Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/831240
maltatoday, THURSDAY, 1 JUNE 2017 News 9 PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES BIANCHI THIS IS A PAID ADVERT Muscat flaunts skyBET investment in Gozo mass meeting to belie PN scaremongering MIRIAM DALLI Having one of the UK's leading online bookmakers applying for a sports license in Malta belied the scaremongering be- ing spread by the opposition, which would have people believe that gaming companies were considering leaving the island, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said last night. The Gaming Authority announced earlier that Sky Betting and Gaming – skyBET – had applied for a sports bet- ting licence in Malta. The §Labour leader descended on Gozo pledging more work for Gozitans, more investment and revision of hunting fines. With white doves released as he walked onto the stage, Muscat appeared before his supporters with a promise to contin- ue building on what his government has already implemented in Gozo. Muscat took Opposition leader Simon Busuttil to task when the latter quoted "an anonymous text" claiming that a betting company "is packed and ready to leave". "The irresponsibility of a person who aims to lead a country and quotes anon- ymous texts to scare people," Muscat said, adding that the betting company in question has no plans of leaving. An SMS which has been in circulation reads "don't quote me but feel free to spread the word that very reliable peo- ple are claiming that betsson's plan A on June 5th is the immediate departure from Malta, plan B, if PN wins they get a 3-month trial period. Same for Lufthan- sa Technik". According to Muscat, Busuttil quoted the SMS during the recording of the BA debate, "when people expect leaders to say their vision for the country". Muscat said that never as today had Gozo experienced so many job oppor- tunities, with more Gozitans working in Gozo. "But the good news is that more is yet to come for Gozo," Muscat said. The Labour leader listed a number of measures being proposed by his party for the sister island, including measures that incentives companies offering tel- eworking to their workers. Parents whose children study in Malta and are renting a place will be given a €5,000 tax deduction. The crowd erupted in chants of "Jo- seph! Joseph!" when the leader asked Gozitans present whom they trusted to construct the tunnel between the two islands. Muscat warned against scaring away the investment being carried by Vitals Global Healthcare, insisting that Barts Medical School would pull out with- out this investment. "In total, Gozitans would be losing out on €50 million," he said. The Labour leader urged his audience to help him in pushing voters to vote for all candidates of the Labour Party. "Don't leave anyone out… vote for all candidates so that your message will be one that no one can ignore," he said. Pledging to continue treating the two islands equally, Muscat said it was his government that pushed filmmakers to film in Gozo, for RS2 to invest in Gozo and for the Barts Medical School to go to Gozo. Muscat warned Gozitans that "there are those who can't stomach the fact that you voted for the Labour movement in 2013". "You've seen the difference in these four years," he said. In Gozo and targeting hunters and trappers, Muscat said they knew where they stood with the Labour government.